Results for: so I have a motorcycle and use the Optimate1 battery tender. One day while using the tender I left and came back 6 hours later to find the Optimate still charging my battery. The battery was very hot so I unplugged right away. I let the battery cool off and the next day I started the bike and the battery was fine. I used my Volt meter and the battery was holding a charge of 14.5 Volts and when I started the bike it did not drop below 9 Volts, and when the bike was running it puts out 16 Volts so I know the battery is being charged. Since the Optimate overcharged my battery it won't go into the green maintain mode - It just keeps charging.

I took the Optimate back to the shop thinking it was the charger, but they hooked it up to 2 batteries and it went to maintain within a minute like it used to for me before this happened. Why won't the Optimate go to maintain when the battery is fully charged when I test it with my Volt meter? Is the battery bad possibly? And if so why does it give a full charge and still fire up the bike fine? I'm not sure what to do?

Have you tried it again to see if it would go into maintenance mode since then? I was reading that the Optimate1 will try to charge to 14.4vdc and then go into maintenance mode. It seems to me the charging system on your bike is running a bit high, as the max I would expect to see out of it would be around ~14.1vdc.
– Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2♦Jul 29 '14 at 22:44

1 Answer
1

The Optimate is probably looking for a decrease in charging current to trigger the transition to maintenance mode. A battery in good condition should start accepting less current as it nears a fully charged state. It sounds like this wasn't happening with your battery. It may be that the battery is nearing the end of its life.